The Spider's Shadow
by JTR01
Summary: In June 1933, five months after the Goblin's death, Peter encounters a mysterious individual who hides in the shadows.


**I don't own Spider-Man or the Shadow. This was just something I did for fun. In regards to the Shadow who he more of an amalgamation of the various version, taking inspirations from the ones who have almost limitless knowledge about the future and other people like in Dynamite Entertainment.**

Peter leapt across the rooftops, allowing himself a brief break from the unfeeling reality he is forced to deal with each day. Despite it having been five months since he gained these abilities, he doubted he would never grow bored of the feeling of freedom it gave him. Which is why on some nights, when despite his his best efforts he is unable to find someone committing evil, he decides to relax and enjoy his abilities. It was not only fun and distracting, but it also helps him in figuring out what his limits are.

For the most part things had been quite since the Goblin's death, though he had heard some rumours of some new gangs attempting to make a move. But until they do something, Peter knew that he would be wasting his time looking for them. He wasn't a detective and didn't have connections unless you counted Ms Hardy, though Peter has worked out ideas on how to improve those two things in time. The best thing Peter can do is try to stop people from getting hurt from the random acts of violence that the scum of New York seemed to adore.

_**"Stop." **_a voice suddenly called out, and the shock or not almost made Peter trip when he landed on a rooftop. He looked around in surprise and for a few seconds he couldn't find the source of the strange and unnerving voice he had heard.

"Who said that?" Peter finally said to what appeared to be the empty cold night, and the masked vigilante began to consider the possibility he had imagined the voice.

_**"Follow me."**_ said the voice, and Peter actually flinched in fear as he looked around. Finally his eyes found him, standing on the end he of the building despite Peter being certain he handy seen him. He was dressed in a black trench coat and suit, with a signatory black fedora on his head and a scarlet scarf around the bottom half of his face to complete the getup. Peter just stared, unsure what he should do. This stranger hasn't attacked him yet, but he could see the two guns in his hand.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

_**"I want justice Spider-Man. And I need your help to do it. Now follow." **_the man answered, and for reasons Peter couldn't explain each word sent chills dancing down his spine. Before he could say anything the man vanished, just disappeared into thin air, and Peter thought that the man had fallen off the roof. He dashed to the edge of the roof, looking down and expecting to see the man falling to his death or something. However he saw nothing and when he looked up he saw the man on the roof opposite to him, observing him in a way that made Peter feel he was nothing more than n interact that was somehow a little amusing.

_**"People are in danger Spider-Man. I can't save them on my own. If you are truly a force for justice, you will help me."**_

Peter watched the stranger for a second, wondering if this was a trap. But he knew he couldn't risk people dying, so even if this guy was planning something Peter couldn't walk away. After getting across to the stranger, he followed the man across rooftops. Peter wants sure how the man was doing what he did, but somehow he always stayed ahead of him. Eventually the man stopped on top of a rather small building, and Peter walked up to him to see a warehouse across the street.

"You going to tell me what's going on now?" Peter asked the stranger. He didn't get a response, and Peter tried to control his anger and impatience. "Can you at least tell me your name?"

The man did not answer, just continued to stare at the warehouse. At this point Peter decided he has had enough, and grabs the man by the shoulder. With his strength it was easy to force the man to face the masked vigilante, and Peter instantly regretted his choice. The stranger did nothing but look at him, but when Peter looked into his eyes he saw things. Darkness and rage, sin and punishment, things that shook Peter right to his soul. And Peter field that despite his mask, this man could see exactly what Peter was. A fifteen year old with a lot of rage against injustice, but not much else. He was grateful when the stranger shrugged Peter's hand off and turned away to point at the warehouse.

_**"This is why I brought you Spider-Man."**_

Peter tried to push what happened to the back of his mind, and looked to where he was pointing. He saw that cars and vans were driving up to the warehouse, and several men got out when they stopped to greet those emerging from the warehouse. To Peter's horror he saw several women being dragged out of the vans, guns being pointed at them to keep them from screaming.

**_"Those women are being taken to be sold as slaves to the highest bidder. However with the two of us living in this city those crooks are being smart and are prepared in case we show up."_** the stranger explained without a glance in Peter's direction. **_"I need you to help the women while I take care of the ringleaders."_**

Peter looked at the stranger, still afraid of him but nodding firmly. When the stranger vanished again, Peter leapt off the roof and with agility and strength no normal person could achieve he grabbed a lamppost and swung off it before landing safely on the ground. Acting quickly he made his way to the warehouse while making sure to keep to the shadows, knowing how quickly things could spiral of one of these idiots saw him. Once he had reached it he leapt over the fence and dashed to one of the vans, hiding behind it while glancing to see what was happening. There were four men with guns while the women had been taken inside the warehouse, while some of the other men had gone off somewhere else. Likely the ones in charge with some protection if Peter was to make a guess. But they weren't his problem, the women inside were his responsibility.

Taking out the first crook was easy, as all it took was a quick jab in the face and then gently laying him out on the ground behind the car. The problem then lay in taking care of the other three before noticing their friend was missing. It was a good thing he planned this, otherwise he would be in trouble. He was already leaping over the car when the second man turned in his direction and was already running past him when the first man's gun, which Peter had thrown while showing off his agility, was hitting the crook in the face, knocking him out cold. The last two were just as easy, and Peter honestly wished that someone could have seen how quickly he took them out. He was really starting to learn how well he benefited from stealth as opposed to full out attacks.

Next he carefully sneaked up to the warehouse doors which were open slightly and peeked in, his eyes narrowing behind his mask in anger. He saw women in cages while the criminals either shot lecherous grins at their prisoners with eyes that showed their disgusting thought, or they were to the side counting through money they had made through doing this exact thing or to buy some of the women themselves. The sight made Peter's blood boil in anger and with little effort his slid through the gap of the door and leapt into the wall, crawling to the ceiling to get a better look of his surroundings.

He saw about ten men armed with tommy guns, while three others were sitting at a table discussing something and appearing to have pistols. The room was small, too small to take them out without someone instantly noticing. Looking at the women Peter knew he had to try anything he can, even if it risked his own life, to save them. With something that could almost be called graceful he pulled out his gun from his holster and aimed it at a wall away from the women and fired.

"What the fuck was that!" one of the men screamed in fear, while everyone began looking around widely with their weapons and the ones who had been sitting scrambled off the chairs.

"Who's doing this?!" one man screamed, before pointing his pistol at another man. "Are you trying to betray us? Is that it you bastard?!"

In seconds half of the men were pointing at the other half, and everyone was yelling while the women cowered in fear. Thankfully they were all aiming away from their prisoners, which is why Peter chose that moment to fire again. And as much as he wanted to he didn't close his eyes, even though his aunt May would disapprove of his actions.

It was a bloodbath as everyone shot at each other, with Peter shooting from above. When enough were left dead or injured, he leapt down and took the rest down as quickly as possible. As he dodged their shots in an impossible manner, he wondered why he kept choosing to keep criminals alive when he could easily kill them and save so many more people. So what if his aunt hates the Spider-Man for being a remorseless killer, she doesn't know that it's her nephew Peter under the mask. But despite that logic Peter got a horrible feeling in his chest that told him that he would hate himself if he rebelled against his aunt's beliefs like that. He will take a life of he had to or he didn't see any other way, but in every situation he was going to make sure more crooks stayed alive than dead even of they don't deserve such mercy and restraint. Eventually every crook had been knocked invincible or were trapped when he sprayed them with his webbing, leaving him able to grab the keys from one of the men and head to the cages.

"Its ok. You're safe now." Peter told them, hoping to reassure them after what they had just seen. But they only kept looking at him in fear, though the masked vigilante tried to ignore it as he opened the doors of the cages.

_**"I have killed the men in charge."**_ the voice of the man who brought Peter suddenly appeared behind him, causing him to look around. The man looked at the women as he spoke, in a tone that was neither gentle or caring. _**"Wait outside. I've had an associate alert the authorities and they will be here soon."**_

At first no one moved, the women terrified of the two men while Peter's mind raced as he finally began to think about why the man the brought him here. Eventually, under the unnerving gaze of the man, the women got up and slowly walked past him and Peter. Once they were outside Peter spoke, getting straight to the point.

"Why did you bring me here?" Peter asked the man, being prepared for the possibility he might attack. "Because I get the feeling you didn't actually need me."

For some reason man chuckled when Peter said that. It was the most terrifying chuckle Peter had ever heard.

_**"You are correct Peter Parker."**_ the man answered, and Peter flinched when the man said his name but did nothing. _**"I could have easily killed these men myself and save the women, but I was intrigued by your presence. I wanted to see what you are like and what you would do. Do not worry, I will not reveal your identity and it is unlikely our paths will ever cross again.**_

"Who are you? I want answers!" Peter told him as his voice began to raise, and he was tempted to pull out his gun and threaten the man. But just as that idea entered his head the man vanished just like he had done before, and a second layer his voice echoed throughout the warehouse.

_**"I am the one who knows what evils live in the hearts of men. I am the Shadow."**_

Peter looked around widely, his heart beating heavily while the man's voice faded away. Peter didn't know what to do and just stood there, stuck in his own head and only woken out of it by the sound of the police sirens. Acting quickly he raced outside the door, and while the women screamed in surprise he leapt onto tell warehouse. In seconds he was on top and escaping into the night, trying to ignore the feeling that no matter how far he ran the Shadow will always be watching him.

**Tell me what you think and if there are any spelling mistakes or sentences that don't make sense.**


End file.
